Shoemaking method and means therefor



Aug. 9, 1938. M. GARFINKEL ET A1. 2,125,911

SHOEMAKING METHOD AND MEANS THEREFOR Original Filed March 12, 1934 .2 Sheets-Sheet '1 Jose /v .Fuz/z, Wfl/w29 I. zwyw,

' l SM Y @www 11g-9, 1938. MGARFINKELETAL'. l 1 2,125,911

SHOEMAKING METHOD AND MEANS THEREFOR Original Filed March 12, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 49,1938

' snoErmxrNG nm'rnon AND minusv THEBEFO Max carousel, Joseph ma, .and wmim r.

Duga, San gel-Mac Shoe Francisco, Calif., assignor's Vto The Process Corporation, New York,

2 claims. (c'i. 12-103) This invention relates to improvements in complementary insole-outsole combinations and to an improved method of producing the same, wherebyaccurate assembly of the insole and outsole so that they exactly interfit will not be necessary to insure comfort to the user of a shoe employing the combination, and whereby the combination may be easily and expeditiously produced by Va single splitting operation making use of a splito ting machine such as is commonly employed at shoe factories;

. In the production of. complementary insoleoutsole combinations for shoes, it has been heretofore proposed to split the heel and shank por- 15 tions of a leather sole blank to'form insole and outsole shank pieces, then remove a rand from channel cuts forming a continuation of the split so that a rand is separated from the margin of' Y the ballsection of the sole blank, and then finally 'forming a cut'transversely from terminal to ter- Y minal of thelran'd so as to completely sever the `5 insoleblank from the outer sole. Beside requiring the exercise of care and skill, these t ree operations require the expenditure of considerable time and the use of a plurality of types of machines, suitably modified. 'I'he present inven- 10 l tion has the advantage over this old method in that it provides a method which may be more expeditiously carried out without the exercise of great care or skilland vby only a single operation performed on an ordinary splitting machine.` 15

edges, the leather of the inner sole tapering to of Figur? 14 l a feather edgeabout the opening so that no no- Figure 3 1S a' mwen section on une 3 3 O ticeable ridges will be produced on the inner Figure 1 More particularly, the present invention contemplates the provision of a template for properly controlling the operation of the knife of a splitting machine on a sole blank so as to pro duce the improved insole-outsole combination in accordance with the present improved method.

Further objects of the present invention are to so construct thetemplate that it may be readily interchangeably employed for the production of both right and left hand insole and outsole combinations, and to so construct the template that the insole will be formed with a thickened shank section which will not require a separate shank reinforcement. v i 30 With the above general objects in view, and l others thatwill become apparent as the nature of the invention` is better understood, the inven- :,gxlg geiggzgdveghimrpguagg tion consists in the novel construction and method on the inner face of the combination that will hereinafter me fun-y described illustrated in 35 cause discomfort' to the wearer of .the shoe in the accompanying, drawings and claimed' which the combination is incorporated. The pres- In the drawings ent invention overcomes this objection by pro- Figure 1 is a' top plan View of an ms'cfleoutmle ducing a combination'in which the projection on combination produced m accordance with the 40 the outerv sole and the opening in the inner sole present invention. have relatively long gradually inclined marginal the margin of the ball section of the sole blank at the flesh side of the latter by separate channel cutting operations which leave the lrand attached to the forward end of the insole shankpiece, and to then separately cut inwardly from the flesh side of thesole blank on a transverse line extending from terminal to terminal of the rand so that the insole blank is severed from the outer sole, a pro- 25 jection being formed on the ball section of the outer sole, and an opening being formed inthe ball section of the inner sole in which said projection will snugly t. ACombinations produced by this old method are objectionable because the 30 projection on the outer sole and the opening in the inner sole have relatively short abruptly inclined marginal edges; and if they are not exact- Figure 2 is a longitudinal section' on line 2 2 40 Figure 4 is a top plan view of the outer sole 45 v surface of the combinati if there is a sli ht inon g forming part of the combination shown in Figaccuracy between-the vvmeshing or interttlng of the outsole projection with the insole opening. ure 1. Further, the above'described prior method of t Figure 5 is a bottom plan viewof. the insole producing combinations involves at least three' forming part' of the combination Ashown in Figseparate and diierent skllfuloperations consist-'- ure 1.

v 50 Figure' 6 is a plan view of the template employed on a soleblank while running the same through a splitting machine, for producing the combination shown in Figure 1 in accordance with the present method.

ing in splitting the" sole blank from the rear end. 'of the'heel to a certain transverse line at the junction of the ball and shank :sections of the blank, then providing a combination of horizintal 5o and inclined channel cuts with the horizontal 55 Figure 'I is a longitudinal section on line 1l-1 of- Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a transverse section on line 3-8 of Figure 6.

Figurev 9 is a sectional view showing an insole and outsole combination in process of production by the means and method forming part of the present invention.

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 9 with the combination progressed further on in the process of its production; and Y Figure 11 is a fragmentary transverse section of the parts in the position of Figure 9, showing how the margin of the ball section of the sole blank is depressed by the corresponding portion of the template into the path of the knife of the splitting machine so that said knife will remove a rand from the margin of said ball section as the sole blank and template are lfed between the rollers of the splitting machine.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, I-

indicates a sole blank having flesh and grain sides indicated respectively at II and I2. In the production of the combination, a template I3 is placed upon the grain side of this blank and passed with the latter through an ordinary splitting machine as generally uiustrated 'in Figures 9 to 11 inchisive. The template I3 is made of ber or any other suitable relatively stiil and unyielding material, so as to substantially conform in outline to the outline of the sole blank Ill and to provide a ball portion or section I4 provided with a central opening I5, a shank portion I6, and a heel portion II. The ball portion I4 is gradually tapered in thickness for a considerable distance, preferably similarlyupon opposite sides as at I8, inwardly to the opening I5 and to a feather edge as at I9. l'ilso, the shank and heel portions I6 and I1 are of increased thickness compared to the thickness of the ball portion I4, preferably by similarly increasing the thickness of these portions I6 and i1 on opposite sides of the template asindicated at 20.

As is well known in the art, an ordinary splitting machine includes a pair of superposed feed rollers 2I and 22, and a horizontal knife 23 located at the discharge side of said feed rollers and in proximity to the top of the lower roller 22, the material to be split being fed by the rollers to the knife.

In carrying out the present method, the template I3 is registered with and laid upon the grain side of the sole blank III, whereupon the registered template and sole blank are fed between the rollers 2-I and 22 of the splitting machine, either the ball or heel portions ofthe template and sole blank being iirst introduced between the rollers 2I and 22. We have shown the template and sole blank arranged with the ball portions thereof first fed between the rollers, and it will be noted that the margin of the ball portion of the blank I0 will be held down in the path of knife 23 by the margin of the ball portion I4 of the template so that a rand 24 is separated from the margin of the ball section of the sole blankat the ilesh side. thereof, the central part of the ball portion of the sole blank being pressed upwardly by the lower roller 22 into the opening I5 pf the template and out of the path of knife 23 so as to ride over the latter. The portion of template I3 at the rear of opening I5 then forcesthe similar portion ofthe sole blank in the path of the knife 23, so that an integral rconnection between the rear ends of the rand 24 of the same thickness as the latter is cut from the sole blank at the iiesh side of the same. The thickened shank and heel parts Ii and I1 then pass under the upper roller 2I so as to further depress the shank and heel portions of the sole blank I0, whereby these portions of the sole blank are split to form insole shank and heel portions 26 and 21 respectively of increased thickness compared to the thickness of the rand and connecting portions 24 and 25, and outsole shank and heel portions 28 and 29 of reduced thickness compared to the margin of the outsole ball portion 30. By thus producing thickened shank and heel portions on the insole, separate shank reinforcements for the insole will be unnecessary when the nresent combination is incorporated in a shoe.

When the rand and connecting portion 25 are cut from .the sole blank, the ball portion 30 of the outer sole is formed with a central projection 3| provided with relatively long gradually inclined or beveled marginal edges as at 32. At the same time, a unitary insole is produced in which the rand 24 and connecting portion 25 form an integrally beveled marginal frame at the ball portion of said insole, the inner margin of said frame about the opening 33 in the ball portion of said insole constituting relatively long gradually inclined or'beveled edges for the opening 33 exactly complementa] to the marginal edges 32 of the projection 3I. These internally beveled edges of the insole ballportion are such that the frame composed of rand 24 and connecting part 25 tapers to a feather edge 35 at the. opening 33, and the latter conforms exactly in size and shape to the size and shape of projection 3I at the upper surface of the latter. The present invention therefore retains the desirable features of prior combinations in thatl outsole elements which are absolutely complevmentary and will interfit perfectly when assembled. However, the present invention has the further advantage in that the relatively long gradually inclined or beveled edges of opening 33 and projection 3l will permit the insole and outsole to be assembled slightly out of exact registration without producing objectionable ridges on the upper surface of the combination s uch as will cause discomfort to the wearer of a shoe in which the combination is incorporated. This avoids the necessity of extreme care and skill in the construction of a shoe in which the present combination is incorporated, and is therefore a decided advantage over prior combinations in which the marginal edges of the opening and projection in the inner sole and on the outer sole respectively are relatively short and abruptly inclined or beveled through the provision of connected horizontal and inclined channel cuts in the sole blank.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the present invention provides for the production of a greatly improved combinav tion of the kind in question. It will further be apparent that the invention provides for the production of this improved combination in an easy and expeditious manner and in a single operation which does not require the exercise of great skill or care and which incurs only use of a single machine such as is commonly employed. for splitting leather in the shoe making art.

While thetemplate I3 is shown beveled at I3 on both sidesA and thickened on both sides as at v2i) so that the template may be interchangeably employed in the production of both right and left hand combinations, it will nevertheless be understood that the template may be beveled at I8 on only one side and enlarged at 20 on only one side, in which, case separate templates I will be required respectively for use in the production of right and left hand combinations. Minor changes and variations in the construction and method speciilcally illustrated and described are contemplated within the scope of the invention as claimed. What We claim as new is;

1. The method of producing complementary spirit and insole-outsole combinations comprising the steps offproviding a leather sole blank of the desired thickness of the outsole and having a grain and a ilesh side, placing on the grain side of said sole blank a template substantially conforming `in outline to the outline of the sole blank and 4having its ball portion provided with a central opening and its shank and heel portions of ln-l creased thickness with respect to the thickness of said ball portion, andrunning the superposed sole blank and template through a splitting machine to cut-a unitary insole from the iiesh side of said sole blank having its lowersuri'ace exactly complemental tothe upper surface of the thinner inwardly entirely about and to a feather edge at said opening, said shank portion being of increased thickness with respect to the thickness of the ball portion of the template. 

